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Manor Expands To Four-Cars For 2007 F3 Euroseries Title Bid |
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Monday, 19 February 2007 |
Race-winning Formula 3 Euroseries team Manor Motorsport has confirmed it will expand to a four-car entry for the 2007 season, the Dinnington squad preparing to make a major bid for championship honours with an exciting line-up of international talent.
“It’s going to be a very big year for Manor with our expansion to four cars but we’re hopeful of a strong season and confident our four drivers will all enjoy a rewarding year”, said team boss John Booth.
“Formula 3 Euroseries continues to be the strongest and most
prestigious F3 championship in the world and we’re aiming to break the
ASM stranglehold. We have proven we can regularly win races at this
level so the next step is to win the title and that’s what we’ll be
aiming to do this season.”
After joining Manor for last November’s 53rd Macau F3 Grand Prix,
Yorkshire teenager James Jakes will continue with the squad for the
2007 F3 Euroseries season and is tipped by many to shine brightly
during the 22-round championship.
The 19-year-old BRDC Rising Star is confident of a strong season,
having gained essential experience as part of the British Formula 3
Championship in 2006. Prior to this Jakes was a consistent front-runner
in Formula Renault UK having originally burst onto the car racing scene
in 2002 as part of the T-Car Championship.
Fellow British F3 convert Yelmer Buurman, who celebrates his 20th
birthday today (19th February), will join Jakes at John Booth’s team
and the Dutchman – who won two races in British F3 last season – is
looking forward to racing on the European stage in 2007.
After a successful karting career in his homeland, with a particular
highlight being title success in the Dutch Rotax Max series in 2000,
Buurman debuted in Formula Renault in 2003 where he became a race
winner during the UK winter series and added further victories in the
full 2005 Formula Renault UK Championship.
French sensation Franck Mailleux, who won the 2006 Formula Renault UK
Winter Championship as a Manor driver with a perfect 100 per cent
strike-rate of race victories during the four round series, climbs the
ladder to Formula 3 competition with the Dinnington team and is hopeful
of a strong debut season in the class.
The 21-year-old, who enjoyed a successful karting career prior to his
first season of car racing in French Formula Renault in 2003, arrived
in Britain at the beginning of 2006 and after ending his maiden season
of Formula Renault UK 10th overall in the driver standings, a richly
deserved and very popular title victory followed in the winter series.
Swiss starlet Cyndie Allemann, meanwhile, is currently set to be the
sole female competitor on the F3 Euroseries grid this year. Graduating
from German Formula 3, where she finished ninth overall in the
championship and fifth in the rookie standings, Cyndie made her debut
in cars in 2004 as part of the Swiss Formula Renault series.
After moving up to German Formula Renault the following season, she
quickly became regarded as one of the hottest female drivers in
single-seater competition and the 20-year-old is hopeful of a very
strong season in F3 Euroseries with Manor this year.
“We obviously know James and Franck very well and we’re delighted to be
able to confirm them both as Manor drivers. Like James, Yelmer and
Cyndie obviously have F3 experience while for Franck the year will mark
a step up from Formula Renault but all four are very promising young
drivers, it should be an exciting year”, commented Booth.
In-line with the expansion of Manor’s Formula 3 operation at the
squad’s Dinnington base, the team’s Formula Renault UK arm is now run
from premises at New Ollerton in Nottinghamshire. Owned as well as
managed by Tony Shaw, the Formula Renault squad will run under the
banner Manor Competition from this season.
While both entities will continue to share a very close link, for John
Booth the sale of his Formula Renault UK assets to team stalwart Shaw
was a logical step for the future of Manor and great things are
expected of both squads in 2007.
The F3 Euroseries has been expanded to a 22-round championship this
year with the inclusion of Mugello, Italy, on the calendar in mid-July.
Hockenheim in Germany will host the season-opening event on 21st/22nd
April with 2007 venues to include Brands Hatch, UK, Germany’s
Nurburgring, Catalunya in Spain and Magny-Cours in France.
Away from its regular slot on the DTM ‘Deutsche Touring Masters’
package, the F3 Euroseries will continue to enjoy Formula 3’s two
traditional non-championship blue riband events, the BP Ultimate
Masters at Zandvoort and the Macau F3 Grand Prix.
Manor Motorsport’s first F3 Euroseries test of the season will take place at Estoril in Portugal on Thursday, 15th March.
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